Heck of a way to start a Saturday!

Hi, everybody! I know it's been a long time since I posted anything on here in quite some time, but I figure I'll share with y'all my interesting yard sale finds from this morning.

First off, I stopped at one yard sale and managed to pick up two old electric typewriters for five bucks:

002_zps32f9c51f.jpg picture by Eadiot - Photobucket



After my first stop, I headed on down the road to another yard sale I found advertised on Craigslist, but didn't quite make it, because along the way, I passed a church that was having a yard sale of their own. After talking to the gentlemen running it, I found out that they had recently joined another congregation, and were looking to give away pretty much everything they had at their old church building before they sell the property. So, they give me a tour of the property, and needless to say, there is a literal treasure trove of old electronics and what not. In the end, I managed to pick up the following items for a mere 42 dollars:

Three computer CRT monitors, one electric typewriter, two keyboards, two mice, several pounds of old stainless steel silverware, three printers (including one office style printer that weighs at least 50 pounds!!!), one broken dell laptop, one older desktop computer/without hard drive, one fax machine, one neat little wireless video surveillance set including a monitor, two old vacuum cleaners, and two office telephones.

003_zps5487d5aa.jpg picture by Eadiot - Photobucket

001_zps7f002d9d.jpg picture by Eadiot - Photobucket

In the end, I'm thinking I did pretty well for the 47 dollars I ended up spending today. However, I'll be happy even if I only break even, as I'll have plenty of fun taking all of this apart. If any of you guys have any tips or advice on how best to go about breaking down and selling all of this, please feel free to post them. I'd like to start dabbling with e-scrap, but unfortunately, there are no e-scrap dealers in my local area.

See if the keys will come off those typewriters and sell as sets on ebay. Seriously, look completed auctions for "Steampunk". People buy them to make necklaces. The bodies might be aluminum. Other than that, I threw the rest in general Light Iron. Check that silverware for being magnetic. Then check with your scrap yard. Mine pays higher for nonmagnetic SS but magnetic goes as Light Iron.

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Originally Posted by Mick

See if the keys will come off those typewriters and sell as sets on ebay. Seriously, look completed auctions for "Steampunk". People buy them to make necklaces. The bodies might be aluminum. Other than that, I threw the rest in general Light Iron. Check that silverware for being magnetic. Then check with your scrap yard. Mine pays higher for nonmagnetic SS but magnetic goes as Light Iron.

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Ok. I checked out the silverware. A good bit of it is magnetic, but a lot of the forks and spoons are non-magnetic and labeled "wma rogers hotel plate" and are made by Oneida, which makes me wonder if they are silver plated pewter.

Selling things on E-bay is one of those things I have absolutely zero experience at. I'll take a look though, and if it seems to be worth it, I may just start.

i think you'd have a hard time just breaking even at scrap value. If that security camera works well enough you might get a fair price on ebay. Starting out on ebay isn't as easy these days as it used to be, especially when computer and electronic components are involved, not sure exactly the complete list of items they consider "risky", but they will hold the payment (including the part intended to cover shipping) for a time, possibly until AFTER the buyer has received it and left feedback.
Sometimes vacs are easily fixed(and sometimes they're near impossible), and possibly sold on CL

I'm a yard sale junkie myself, so my "scrap" purchases are just like getting cotton candy at the fair. But I did land a big ole Tektronix oscilliscope for $10, plus about 30 WWF rubber dolls from the mid '80's for $20. Also got about 400+ sq ft. of interlocking foam mat for my workspace for $80 (stack 6' high). Sold my $2 IBM PS/2 for $99 on ebay. Also got 6 early '90's Star Trek phaser toys at auction currently bid at $59 (I only paid $2). Every week its another bargain if you can sniff a good deal. Keep on looking!

They could be silver plated brass as well

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Originally Posted by Bear

i think you'd have a hard time just breaking even at scrap value. If that security camera works well enough you might get a fair price on ebay. Starting out on ebay isn't as easy these days as it used to be, especially when computer and electronic components are involved, not sure exactly the complete list of items they consider "risky", but they will hold the payment (including the part intended to cover shipping) for a time, possibly until AFTER the buyer has received it and left feedback.
Sometimes vacs are easily fixed(and sometimes they're near impossible), and possibly sold on CL

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Yeah, after thinking about it in hindsight, it probably will be difficult to break even. But, no worries.... It felt kinda good giving a few bucks to a church group to help them out, and I'll be happier than a mule eating briers just taking these things apart. Regarding the the security camera, I have an old TV/VCR combo that I bought ten years ago that can be connected to it via the same A/V cables that connect to the tiny monitor that came with it. I figure I could probably pair those two items up, make sure they work, and then sell them on Craigslist for about 30 bucks or so. I'm thinking one of the local businesses, be it a pawn shop, convenience store, or what not, may be willing to buy it to install in their shop.

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Originally Posted by scraprecycler

They could be silver plated brass as well

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Yeah, I did some quick research online and found that they are more than likely cupro-nickel with silver plating. I'm going to have to ask my scrap yard whether they offer cupro-nickel prices or will only take them as brass.

those little cameras might not be bad to have one of, if you can rig it up to work

Stopped by a yard sale myself today and got 6 cell phones (one brand new in the box) and 2 brass candel sticks all for three $$

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Originally Posted by happyscraper

Stopped by a yard sale myself today and got 6 cell phones (one brand new in the box) and 2 brass candel sticks all for three $$

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Thats what i'm talkin about! Love me some yard sales. Stopped at one yesterday and asked the lady if she has any old computers. She said her hubby has a basement full of them, plus he gets them all the time at work. Smacked the business card in her hand as fast as i could. It may never materialize but ya never know!

I make a habit of going to all the garage sales in my area. I never show up before the announced start time, but I'm prompt. I'll give things a quick look-over and if there is anything I can't chance on not selling, I'll buy it. It makes for a good ice-breaker when I ask about any old electronics they may feel aren't worth putting out for sale. Most of the time people will have a closet of 'dead' electronics that I offer to pick up along with any unsold electronics at the end of their sale. I hand them a business card and my 15-second pitch. At least 1/2 phone for me to come by and hual away their 'useless stuff', and 100% of them are one more person that knows about me and my companys' services! You never know where your honey hole will come from, you have to go looking for it for it to find you!

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Originally Posted by Bear

those little cameras might not be bad to have one of, if you can rig it up to work

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That thought did cross my mind for a split second. But considering I live in a pretty nice neighborhood, I really don't have any need for one around the house.... Unless of course my crazy ass ex girlfriend blows another gasket and tries to burn my house to the ground. But that's another story for another forum.

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Originally Posted by shendog

Thats what i'm talkin about! Love me some yard sales. Stopped at one yesterday and asked the lady if she has any old computers. She said her hubby has a basement full of them, plus he gets them all the time at work. Smacked the business card in her hand as fast as i could. It may never materialize but ya never know!

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Whenever I do that I also ask for a number so I can contact them. Remember, in their mind it is not 'urgent', just something that they want to do "someday.". With no sense of urgency your card may sit in a drawer forever. If you follow up in a couple of days you are WAY more likely to actually get the goodies!